Amritsar: Hundreds of Pakistani citizens who had come to India for medical treatment, family visits, weddings, or religious pilgrimages are now scrambling to return.
It’s the result of the Indian government suspending the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme after the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 people.
Pakistani children looking at the BSF personnel, while he was checking her passport at Attari-Wagah Border | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrint
Pakistani citizens who were in India under the SVES were given less than a week to leave the country. Many rushed to cross the border at Attari-Wagah, with over 500 Pakistani nationals having crossed so far.
Mohammad Ayan, 17, a Pakistani national who came to India to seek treatment for his paralysis, is now leaving without his mother | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrintMohammad Ayan’s wheelchair on top of the white SUV. The 17-year-old came to India to seek treatment for his accidental paralysis | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrint
The case of Rukhsar, a mother of four kids, illustrates the difficulties faced by families. With an Indian passport, she’s struggling to return to Pakistan, while her children, who are Pakistani citizens, are permitted to cross the border.
Rukhar’s children wearing ID-cards bearing their father’s name and number. She cannot cross the border as she has an Indian passport | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrint
Vehicles carrying Pakistani citizens line up near the Integrated Check Post as they prepare to leave India at the Attari-Wagah border crossing near Amritsar.
11-year-old Zainab breaks down because her mother cannot go to Pakistan with her | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrintChildren showing their Pakistani passports while waiting to get inside near Attari-Wagah Border check post | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrintPakistani Hindu woman Sindhu Kanwer waits anxiously at Attari | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrintPriya Kanwer (in yellow), who is an Indian citizen married to a Pakistani, couldn’t accompany her family across the border | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrintRabika, a Pakistani citizen, is upset after the indian government announced the suspension of SEVS | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrintBSF personnel checking the passports of Pakistani citizens | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrintPakistan citizens are leaving India after the government’s ultimatum following the Pahalgam terror attack | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrintBSF personnel checking the passports of Pakistani citizens | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrintA military personnel with the Border Security Force stands guard, as vehicles carrying Pakistani citizens line up near the Integrated check post | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrint
